Shannon Sharpe Bio: Early Life, College, NFL & Controversies

For those who don’t know. Shannon Sharpe is a former American Football tight end. Three times Super Bowl championship and 8 times Pro Bowl championship, he is at the heart of all Americans.

With many ups and downs in early childhood, Shannon and his brother Sterling have left a remarkable footprint in the sports world. He played with Denver Broncos for 12 years and Baltimore Ravens for 2 years.

This 14 years journey of football came to an end when he claimed sexual harassment by a woman. However, in today’s reality, Shannon is seen as a commenter and host at sports talk shows Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.

Ok! this’s just a short introduction to Shannon Sharpe. Go through the article to get more on this NFL player. Keep Reading

Table of Contents

1 Quick Facts2 Shannon Sharpe; Early Life, Family, and Education3 Shannon Sharpe: Age, Height, and Physical Appearance4 Shannon Sharpe; Career4.1 Early Career4.2 NFL Career4.3 Shannon Sharpe: Life after Football4.4 Is Shannon Sharpe on the controversies list?5 Shannon Sharpe Personal life: Wife and kids5.0.1 Related: Jason Bell has not married yet but still has a daughter.5.1 Celebrity Crush5.2 Controversy with Michelle Bundley6 Who is Sterling Sharpe? Summary7 Shannon Sharpe: Awards and Achievements8 Shannon Sharpe: As a LeGOAT James9 Shannon Sharpe: Net Worth and Salary10 Shannon Sharpe: Social Media Presence11 Some FAQs11.1 How long Shannon Sharpe played for Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens?11.2 What was Shannon Sharpe Jersey’s number?11.3 When did Shannon Sharpe retire? What is his favorite team?11.4 Where is Shannon Sharpe’s childhood home located?

Quick Facts

Full Name Shannon Sharpe
Birth Date June 26, 1968
Birth Place Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nickname Unknown
Religion Unknown
Nationality American
Ethnicity African-American
Education Savannah State College
Horoscope Cancer
Father’s Name Pete Sharpe
Mother’s Name  Mary Alice Dixon
Siblings 2
Age 33 years old
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 228 lb (103 kg)
Hair Color Black
Eye color Black
Profession Professional NFL Player
Post-Profession Tv Commentor, Host for TVs shows
Position Tight end
Games Played 204
Jersey Number 81,82,84
Marital Status Unmarried
Children 3
Net Worth  $11.52 million
Social Media  Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
Merch Jersey, Trading Cards
Last Update February, 2022

Shannon Sharpe; Early Life, Family, and Education

Born on June 26, 1968, Shannon’s birthplace is Chicago, Illinois, United States. The younger of Pete and MaryAlice Sharpe’s three children, Shannon, grew up poor in Glennville, Georgia, under the care of his grandmother Mary Porter.

Sharpe’s parents separated when he was just 3 months old. Unfortunately, his father died of lung cancer when he was in 8th grade. Due to the family’s poor condition, he worked on a farm and tobacco field to meet his daily meals.

So, all these factors are responsible for Shannon’s rough childhood. The academic record show he attended Glennville High School.

After a successful high school degree, he moved to Savannah State College and graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

Shannon Sharpe: Age, Height, and Physical Appearance

As of now, the former NFL star is 53 years. He gains a weight of 228 lb (103 kg) with a height of 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m). He has black hair and eye color.

Most of the player is born in one country and play for another and represent their nationality from the country they play in. But Shannon represents his birth country as his nationality.

Furthermore, he belongs to American nationality with African-Americans ethnicity. Having a muscular body built, he looks quite attractive when standing in front of the crowd.

At the age of 52, he has the best body shape, among others. In this case, the main reason behind this is his fitness workouts.

Moreover, Shannon shares his daily workout plans, diet, and nutrition plan and why he works out so hard in the gym. You can get all these tips and techniques from his social media accounts.

Shannon Sharpe; Career

Early Career

Shannon started his early career after joining Savannah State College. In the beginning, he started playing Basketball, Football.

He also started participating in track and field and recorded the best long jump of 6.73m and 14.73m in the triple jump.

From 1987 to 1989, he became associated with Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Shannon was honored as SIAC player of the year in 1987. In 1989 he was also selected as a Kodak Division II All-American.

In 1988 and 1989 football, he led his college with a 7-3 run and 8-1 run, respectively. At the end of his college, his total score was 3,744 yards and 40 touchdowns.

With these achievements, he got selected for the Division II Football Hall of Fame in 2009 and Savannah State’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.

NFL Career

During the beginning at NFL, Sharpe was not able to show off his best in the match. The main reason behind it was his body size weighing 104kg(230pounds). This size is too large for playing as a receiver and too small for the tight end.

Luckily in the 1990 NFL draft, Denver Broncos selected him in the 7th round with a 192nd overall pick. He continued playing as a receiver for two seasons, and after that, Denver converted him to tight end.

Until 1999 Sharpe achieved two Super Bowl championships (XXXII, XXXIII). He was in the limelight when General Mills featured him in their Wheaties boxes with four other Broncos.

In Super Bowl Championship XXXV Shannon with his team, Baltimore Ravens made it to the winning point. He returned to the Denver Broncos team and played until 2003.

After that, he retired with the purpose to become an NFL analyst for CBS.

Sharpe became a part of the All-Pro Team for four years and made 8 Pro Bowls to winning points. In the year 1993, Shannon tied a postseason record with 156 yards and a touchdown.

However, after spending 14 years on football, he announced his retirement from sports. This 14 years journey was one of the turning points of life for Shannon, with 10,060 yards and 62 touchdowns in 203 games.

Shannon Sharpe: Life after Football

After resigning from football in 2004, Shannon served as a commentator for the CBS Sports show ‘The NFL Show’ with James Brown as co-host until 2014.

In 2013, Sharpe turned into a writer and spokesperson for FitnessRX For Men magazine and featured on their cover. Currently, the former NFL star is known as a Tv presenter with Skip Bayless in a sports talk show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.

Recently in Undisputed, Shannon made a call to Julio Jones on air. Well, it just served as a method that revealed Julio Jones’s trade without him knowing he was on national TV. 

It did spur intense talks about Jones’ trade however, the result was positive later. 

Well, with FOX, Shannon is currently making a $6 million salaries which is set to expire after July 2021. With the new contract, FOX has to decide whether to keep and provide an equal salary to Sharpe or let him go. 

Is Shannon Sharpe on the controversies list?

Controversies are a part of life, especially when one is connected with the media industry. Many players are included on the controversies list. His most controversial moments include accused of sexual assault.

Unrecognized women claiming to be Shannon’s girlfriend filed a case against him on September 9, 2010, in an Atlanta court.

Later on, the woman is identified as Michele Bundy, who claimed that she was forced to have sexual relations with Shannon.

Also, Bundy declares that Sharpe was threatening her and calls to say he is watching her. However, Sharpe has not been arrested and charged any fine for this case.

Later on, the court dismissed the case after knowing that Bundy is claiming false evidence.

You might want to take a look at Shannon Sharpe’s rookie card, click to follow! 

Shannon Sharpe Personal life: Wife and kids

Shannon has always been in the spotlight with his professional career. But he’s very private with his personal life.

The former NFL star‘s personal life is a subject of interest to many of his fans. But yeah! He’s yet to be married.

However, Sharpe was in a relationship with fitness instructor Katy Kellner. Additionally, these couples were often seen together around Los Angeles, and the relation lasted for quite a long time.

Finally, they engaged with each other in the year 2016. Sharpe shared this news with his fans through his social media accounts.

Sadly by 2018, their relationship was no longer working when Katy Kellner confirmed her pregnancy with a fitness instructor named Marlon Byrd.

Related: Jason Bell has not married yet but still has a daughter.

Despite being single, the co-host of “Undisputed” does have three children. Daughters: Kayle and Kaley, Son: Kiari. All three kids are from his previous relationship.

We don’t have much information about the mother of these children. But Shannon and his child don’t live together. They live in Georgia and Florida with their respective moms. Likewise, he often shares pictures with these children on social media.

Celebrity Crush

Just as our normal self, Shannon also has a celebrity crush on Eddie Murphy’s wife Nicole Murphy. He has often taken his Twitter stating his opinion on her. 

Back in 2017, he first met Nicole and Shannon had even posted a picture of them on Instagram. The post captioned, “Those that know won’t tell. Those that tell won’t know.” 

Controversy with Michelle Bundley

Back in 2010, Michelle Bundley had stated that Shannon assaulted and stalked her. Additionally, she even claimed that he had threatened her for life and kept her under his surveillance. 

Herewith, a restraining order against Sharpe was filed at the Atlanta court on September 9, 2010.

Who is Sterling Sharpe? Summary

Sterling Sharpe is the brother of Shannon Sharpe. Born on April 6, 1965, he is a former American Football wide receiver. 

Not to mention, he started his career at the collegiate level with records of 169 catches,2,497 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns.

In 1988 he played for Green Bay Packers and set the record with 90 receptions. Moreover, Sterling became one of the seven players in NFL history to earn ‘Triple Crown‘ at the receiver position.

Sadly during the 1994 season, he suffered from a neck injury, which was also one reason he ended his career. Because of this injury, Sterling was not able to play for Super Bowl XXXI.

His brother Shannon then gave him 3 of his Super Bowls ring mentioning Sterling as a major influence in his life by saying

The two people who influenced me the most, good or bad, are Sterling and my grandmother. Everything I know about being a man, about football, everything I know about sports, pretty much in life, is because of those two people

After moving on from football, Sterling established himself as a commenter in ESPN, the NFL network. Also joined NBC’s new NFL analyst.

Shannon Sharpe: Awards and Achievements

Super Bowl Championship (XXXII, XXXIII, XXXV)All-Pro first-team(1993, 1996,1997,1998)All-Pro Second team (1995)Pro Bowls (1992-1998,2001)

Shannon Sharpe: As a LeGOAT James

The recent NBA games between LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers and Steph Curry’s is one of the astounding moments ever. During the match, James took the floor to shoot most of the clutches and awe-inspiring shots. 

Later for the undisputed, Shannon hilariously dressed up as James with a goat mask on. 

Shannon Sharpe: Net Worth and Salary

It’s an obvious fact that soccer (football) is one of the world’s most rewarding games. Likewise, the player can gain a huge number of dollars in compensation consistently.

From many surveys, it’s predicted that Shannon’s net worth is around $11.52 million. However, the number may vary regarding his current stats.

Being an American tight-end player, most of his income source is different from football tournaments. Besides that, he is also seen in many TVs program and shows as a host.

Shannon Sharpe: Social Media Presence

Shannon is currently active on different social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. He shares the most important events and career highlights of his life through these platforms.

Instagram – 1.6million followers

Twitter – 1.2million followers

Facebook – 722,550 followers

Some FAQs

How long Shannon Sharpe played for Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens?

Denver Broncos – 1990-1999, 2002-2003

Baltimore Ravens – 2000-2001

What was Shannon Sharpe Jersey’s number?

Shannon Sharpe featured in jersey number 82 for the Baltimore Ravens. Likewise, he wore jersey number 84 and 81 for the Denver Broncos. If you are interested in buying Sharpe’s Broncos jersey, do be sure to follow the link! 

When did Shannon Sharpe retire? What is his favorite team?

Shannon Sharpe retired in the year 2003. As per Sharpe, his favorite team is the Cowboys.

Where is Shannon Sharpe’s childhood home located?

Shannon Sharpe’s childhood home is located in Glennville, Georgia, U.S.